


Hamilton Hill Mall

by imjusttheoutgoingsidekick



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz, Dear Evan Hansen - Pasek & Paul/Levenson
Genre: Alana owns a bookstore, Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, Fluff, Jared works at a comic book store, Jeremy and Michael are kinda in this??, Some angst, They work at Hamilton Hill Mall, Zoe owns a hair salon, connor works in a tattoo parlor, like occasionally, wow okay here we go again
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-26
Updated: 2018-11-09
Packaged: 2019-05-28 23:13:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 9,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15059912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imjusttheoutgoingsidekick/pseuds/imjusttheoutgoingsidekick
Summary: Evan Hansen is in for a wild ride when he opens up his flower shop Branching Out in the Hamilton Hill Mall, but sometimes a wild ride takes you to exactly where you need to be, and gives you friends, family, and maybe even romance along the way.





	1. Branching Out

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Zeldonyx_Hangie_Skypotter](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zeldonyx_Hangie_Skypotter/gifts).



> This fic is dedicated to the first internet friend I made, I love you bro.

Evan Hansen walked into the Hamilton Hill Mall. His little shop was right near the front, so it was a short walk. When he got there, he pulled out his key and unlocked the door. He was greeted by the smell of flowers, and a sense of calm rushed over him. He thought back to when he was walking around the mall with his step-brother Jeremy and his boyfriend Michael, and he saw the available space that was just perfect for his business. That was around the end of May or early June, now it was August, and Branching Out was finally ready to open. Evan turned the sign on the door to ‘open’ and started arranging a bouquet of tulips to put in the window.

For the first hour, no one came in at all. Just as Evan was starting to wonder if it would have been a good idea to promote his opening a little more than just a few flyers in the mall and one in the Library, the little bell above the door let out a quiet ‘ding’ letting him know someone had entered the store. Evan looked up to see a short-ish guy, about his age, with brown hair, glasses and a StarWars shirt. “W-welcome to Branching out! How can I help you?” He said nervously. This was his first customer, and to be honest, he was kinda cute. Evan felt himself blushing at the thought. He had long ago come to terms with the fact that he was bi, but most guys were straight, so he knew better than to get his hopes up.

“So, you’re the new guy huh? Krysta told me a flower shop was opening next door, I didn’t believe her. I guess I owe her five bucks.”

_ Oh. He’s just here to make fun of me. _ Evan thought. “Well, yeah I’m here, so… sorry?”

“It’s fine, I just didn’t think someone would open a flower shop in a mall. It’s pretty cool though. I’m Jared, by the way, I work next door at the Comic Strip.” He stepped forward and put his hand out. Evan stressed a second about weather his hands were sweaty or not, before disregarding it and shaking his hand anyway.

“I’m Evan.”

“Well Evan, it’s nice to meet you.” Jared grinned, “Let me tell you about some of the others. To your left, is Indigo Streaks, that’s Zoe Murphy’s hair salon. Zoe’s pretty chill but don’t get her started about hair stuff, she’ll talk forever.” Jared rolled his eyes. “Now, on the other side of the Comic Strip is The Breakfast Nook. It’s this little bookstore run by this little nerd named Alana. Oh, and there’s a coffee shop in it too. Best peppermint hot chocolate you will  _ ever _ taste I swear to god.”

“Mmmm, sounds nice,” Evan commented.

“It  _ is _ . Anyway, then there’s inked out across the way over there.” He pointed out the door and across the hall. “It’s this awesome tattoo parlor run by this guy JD, and his wife Veronica, dude always wears a trench coat, it’s weird. Anyway the only other employee there is Stoner- er- Connor Murphy, but I’d stay away from him if I were you. I’m 100% sure he’s crazy, and 99% sure he’s on drugs, so, yeah. That’s basically all you need to know. Oh! And there’s a Bed Bath & Beyond down that way that sells the best bath bombs.” Jared grinned.

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Evan said, and Jared turned to leave.

“Oh wait! Can I get two pink carnations, a white one, and a yellow one please? If you have any that is,” He asked.

“S-sure! That’ll be sixteen dollars please.” He replied, turning around to go find the carnations. Once he had found them, he took the money from Jared and put it in the cash register. “Do you- um, do you know what  these mean? I could tell you if- if you wanted to know, but you probably don’t and that’s ok, Idon’twanttoforceflowerknowlageonyouifyoudon’tcareor-”

“Dude, calm down. Yeah sure, what do they mean?”

“Oh, um, well, white carnations can be seen as a symbol of purity or good luck, yellow carnations can mean a bunch of different things, but the nicest one is ‘pure and lovely’ and pink carnations mean a mother’s undying love.”

Jared laughed, “Well, I guess this one will be for me,” he said, tucking the yellow flower behind his ear, “The pink ones for my little sisters, and the white one for Krysta, she has a date tonight, she’ll need all the luck she can get.” He said with a smirk. Then he turned to leave “See ya ‘round Evan.”

And with that he was gone. Evan smiled and set to work creating an arrangement of lilies.

The day went by pretty quickly with no other customers, none that is, until closing time.

_ Ding! _

“Hello?” A girl’s voice called, “Anyone here?”


	2. Chloe??

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Enter: Alana Beck

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> been forever since I worked on this lol

“Hello? Anyone here?”

“I-I’m in the back!” Evan called.

“Hi, I’m Zoe!” The girl said.

“Chloe? Did you say your name was Chloe?”

“No, I said Zoe, Zoe Murphy.” Zoe said with a smile.

Murphy, Evan thought, why does that sound familiar? “Oh! Zoe! Um, you- you run Indigo Streaks next door, right?”

“Yeah, uh, how’d you know?”

“Oh, J-Jared, from The Comic Strip told me about you. Well, not just you, about Alana and Connor too.”

“Of course Kleinman told you about me, what lie did he make up this time? He usually says something stupid about me,” she said rolling her eyes.

“He actually, um, he just told me, he told me you owned Indigo Streaks?” Evan replied, not meaning to make it sound like a question. “Are you two, like, a- a-” Zoe turned bright red and Evan stopped talking. “Sorry, it’s not my place to ask.”

“No! It’s totally fine, and to answer your question, no, never in a million years would I date that idiot. He’s more like a brother to me I guess? We’ve known each other since high school and we separated for college, then one day I came to work and he was just sitting in there and I was like ‘Dude! How’d you know I worked here!’ and he was like ‘Krysta the manager of The Comic Strip told me. I got a job there!’ and I was like ‘You actually got a job?’ and he just punched me in the arm, so yeah.” She smiled fondly, “He’s an idiot but he’s practically family. I’m closer with him than I am with my real brother.”

“Your- your real brother?” Evan inquired.

“Oh, so he left that part out. What did he tell you about Connor?”

Then it clicked, Connor Murphy, Zoe Murphy, they were siblings. “He- he told me that, um, that Connor was- that- that he was crazy and maybe on drugs?”

“Well, that’s 100% accurate. Connor is crazy and on drugs. We actually haven’t spoken since high school, and I don’t think he even knows I work here.” There was a bit of a sad look in her eyes. “But that’s fine, the last time we talked it was this big fight and he just stormed out so that’s that” She smiled. “Anyway, I should get going, I’m part of the local Jazz Band and I have practice in like, ten minutes, it was nice meeting you!”

“Nice meeting you too,” He called, but she was already out the door. A few minutes later, he closed up shop and walked out the door.

The Mall was mostly empty, since most of the shops in this area closed at seven instead of eight, but Evan noticed one that was still open. It was The Breakfast Nook, that girl Alana’s bookstore/coffee shop, and Evan decided it would probably be a good idea to go in and introduce himself.

The inside of the store was lit with Fairy Lights, and the bookcases were tall enough to need ladders to get the books on the top shelves, and Evan saw a girl climbing one. At least, he thought the girl was using a ladder, until he realized, she was just scaling the bookcase, no ladder needed. Evan gasped, and the girl became aware of his presence.

 

“Hi!” She said cheerfully, “I’m Alana, I’ll be right with you!”

“A-aren’t you scared you’re going to fall?” Evan asked concernedly.

“Nope! Have you ever climbed a bookshelf?” Alana asked.

“No, but I’ve climbed trees,” Evan replied.

“It’s just like that, except this is a bookshelf! It’s super easy, hey, can you catch this?” Before Evan could answer, Alana had already tossed him the book. Evan caught it and read the title; Because Of Winn Dixie.

“Oh, I love this book!” Evan said, “I’ve only read it, like, a billion times.” He gave Alana a small smile.

“Really! Same!” She was now near the bottom of the bookcase and decided to just jump off. She then walked over to where Evan was standing. “It’s such a great book, my favorite character is the librarian.”

“Yeah, when she thinks that Winn-Dixie is a bear, that’s my favorite part. What’s yours?”

“My favorite part is probably when Winn-Dixie catches the mouse.” Alana grinned and walked over to the cafe area. “Hey, wanna discuss the book? It’s fine if you don’t, I just haven’t talked about this book with anyone since like third grade! I have cookies and hot chocolate if that’s any consolation,” She added quickly.

“Sure! I’ve heard of your world famous hot chocolate.” Evan walked over to where Alana was standing and sat at the bar like area of the cafe.

“I like to joke that this is a bar for kids,” Alana joked, “Cause I only serve milk, milkshakes, hot chocolate and juice. One peppermint hot chocolate coming right up.”

After that, Evan and Alana sat and discussed Because of Winn-dixie until the security guard had to come and tell them the mall was closing and they had to leave.


	3. Allyson & Alexa

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I LOVE THESE SMOL CHIDS

Jared Walked into Branching Out one morning about a week after first meeting Evan, his two little sisters in tow. He almost immediately heard the familiar call of “Welcome to Branching Out, I’ll be right with you!”

“It’s just me!” Jared called, keeping an eye on Allyson and Alexa while looking around at the colorful blossoms surrounding him. He found a particularly pretty one and pulled out his camera, snapping a few pictures of it, he would pick the best one later. He turned back around to see Evan coming out of the back room. “Hey Evan!” He called cheerily. “Shit.”

“W-what’s wrong?” Evan asked.

“Oh, nothing, Allyson and Alexa disappeared again. My parents are out of town so my little sisters are staying at the mall with me today, they’ll turn up eventually.” He replied looking around at all the flowers. “Hey, I don’t actually have to be at work for another hour, but the twins were driving me crazy so I brought them here. Anyway, Could I maybe take some pictures of the flowers? I have an assignment for my photography class, and the prompt is nature out of place. I figured the flowers here would be good for that, right?”

“Sure!” Evan replied, “Y-you take a photography class?”

“Yep, I thought it would be cool, so I tried it out and I really liked it.” He turned and smiled at Evan, who was fixing a few flowers into a bouquet. He noticed for the first time how his eyes lit up when he looked at his flowers.

Evan turned to face him. “Hey, is that pink dye in your hair?”

Jared grinned. “Yeah, I told my sisters that if they went the first three weeks of school without getting sent to the principal’s office, I would dye some of my hair pink.”

“That’s nice, you really love them don’t you.”

“Eh,” He shrugged, “They’re family.”

Jared stayed for a while, taking pictures of the flowers, (and secretly a few of Evan, he was so at ease when he was tending to his flowers.) before having to leave for work. His day was pretty boring, with only a few customers coming in and actually buying stuff. It was mostly just teens who wanted to read the comics, but didn’t have enough money to buy them. When his shift was finally over, Jared walked out to go find Allyson and Alexa. Except, they were nowhere to be found. He hurried back to Branching Out. “Evan!” he shouted.

“Jared? What’s wrong?”

“Allyson and Alexa, I can’t find them!” he said frantically.

“Hey,” Evan said, putting a hand on Jared’s shoulder, “It’s ok, we’ll find them.” He said. Jared tried to ignore the butterflies in his stomach from when Evan touched him, and nodded. “So, when did you see them last?”

“This morning when I brought them here.”

“Ok, have you checked everywhere?”

Jared ran through all the places his sisters liked to go. The arcade, I checked there, the ice cream place, checked there, Justice and JCPenney, checked there too, “I checked all their usual spots.” He said.

“Well we’re going to check all the places they might not be,ok?”

Jared nodded in reply and headed out the door. They checked the Pizza place, the nail salon, a couple of shoe stores, and even the Kay Jewelers, but they still hadn’t found the twins. They headed back the other way and checked in a few more stores, including Indigo Streaks and The Breakfast Nook, but they still hadn’t found the girls.

“Evan, we’ve checked everywhere.” Jared said frantically, “Where could they be?”

“No, we haven’t checked everywhere, there’s still one place.”

“Where?” Jared asked, but Evan was already walking towards Inked Out. Jared followed him hastily. When they walked in, the first thing they saw was Connor Murphy, sitting on one side of a desk, with one of the twins on the other. He was drawing on her arm. Connor looked up.

“I think these are yours.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> does anyone read for DEH anymore?? idk I've been away from the fandom for a while...


	4. I Think These Are Yours

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> really short chapter but what else is new

“I think these are yours.” Connor said. Jared went extremely pale, and rushed forward, dragging Allyson and Alexa away from him.

“Stop corrupting my precious sweet little children!” He exclaimed.

“Hey, they came in here on their own! I was nice to them.”

“You drew on them!”

“It’s Henna, it’s not pepermint!” Connor rolled his eyes.

“This is not ok! My sweet little sisters will not be ruined by Stoner Murphy.”

“Maybe you should ask them how they feel! They were having fun!” Connor yelled.

Jared saw Evan lean down and tell Allyson and Alexa something, and then they ran out the door and into Branching Out. Then he turned to face Connor and Jared. “Jared, first of all, you need to calm down and let Connor tell you what happened, ok?” Jared nodded a little. “Ok, now Connor, you also need to not get upset. It’s his little sisters we’re talking about, ok?” Evan said. Something changed in Connor’s expression, almost undetectable, so Jared didn’t see it.

“Ok,” Connor said. “So this is what happened. I was just in here drawing an idea for a dragon tattoo, when they walked in. I ignored them for a while, because they were just looking at the henna design book, but then they walked over. One of them pointed to one of the designs and told me they both really wanted that on their arm, but they only had five dollars.” Connor let out a small smile. “So I told them that since they were such sweet little girls, I would do it for free.”

“What was the design?” Jared asked.

Connor pulled the Henna book off of the table beside him and flipped through the pages until he found what he was looking for. “It was this one.” He pointed at a design at the bottom of the page. It was a flower with two leaves, and swirly vines sprouting from it. Jared looked from the design, to Connor, and back to the design.

“You- you drew this?” he asked, baffled that this guy could draw something that pretty. This guy, with his long hair pulled back in a bun, a dragon tattoo curling around his left wrist, and skulls and such covering his arms. If he had payed more attention, he would have seen small flowers, music notes, suns, and moons flitting through the more intimidating designs. If he had looked a bit closer, he would have seen the edge of an anti suicide message scrawled across his back. If he had really looked, he could have seen Connor’s first tattoo, a pretty sugar skull, like the ones used to decorate graves on the Day of the Dead, that was tucked behind Connor’s right ear.

“Yeah.” Connor replied with a nod. “I drew that.” Jared was shocked. He didn’t understand how this could be. Maybe Connor had a soft spot for children? No, that couldn’t be, could it? He was to confused to think straight.

“Jared? You ok?” Evan asked.

“Yeah.” he answered. “Sorry I freaked out on you, I’m just really protective of them.”

Connor nodded again, “I understand.”

Jared looked down at his feet, “Well, I guess I should go, I have kids to take care of.” He said, and hastily rushed out the door.


	5. Cookies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CUTE!!

Evan followed Jared across the way to Branching Out. “Hey, you ok?”

“Yeah.” He shifted a little, “Hey I’m going back home to make them supper or whatever, and uh, I wondered if maybe you wanted to come with me?” Evan was stunned, was this a date? Almost as if Jared knew what he had been thinking, he quickly added, “It’s just, it gets a bit boring with just us three at home all the time I figured we could all use a new face.” He smiled “And I need help with cooking.”

Evan blushed and reprimanded himself for thinking Jared might like him, “Oh, sure!”

“So, do you want to ride with me or what?”

“Could I ride with you?” Evan asked tentatively.

“Sure, why else would I offer?” Jared replied with a roll of his eyes. “Come on.” He waved for Evan to follow him.

A few minutes later, they were all in Jared’s car. Evan was fidgeting with the hem of his shirt. He did that when he a lot when he was nervous. He was nervous a lot around Jared. It had started the first day Evan had met him. The next day, Evan still remembered the cute guy with the pretty brown eyes. That was when he realized it. this was another stupid crush that wasn’t going to go anywhere. Evan nad to accept that and settle for hopefully forming a nice friendship. Now, Evan knew he was hopeless. He caught himself staring over at Jared as he drove, and would pinch his arm to make himself stop. Jared reached down and turned on the radio, and for a second, Evan was relieved to have something to distract himself. Then Jared started singing, and Evan realized he had a really pretty voice. He swallowed hard, and closed his eyes, leaning his head against the back of the seat until they got to Jared’s house.

“We’re here!” Jared shouted, rushing around to where his sisters were climbing out of the car. He kneeled down and let one of them climb onto his shoulders, then picked up the other, holding her sideways under his arm. “LET’S GOOO!” He yelled, “IT’S TIME FOR FOOD!”

Evan smiled, and followed him in. He left his shoes by the door, and walked into the living room. There was a blanket fort already set up there, and dolls littered the floor. Jared had set the girls down on the couch and was putting some barbie movie in for them to watch while he made supper. Then he made his way to the kitchen, motioning for Evan to follow. “Hey Ev, could you get me a medium pot? It’s in the drawer over there.” Evan hurried to get the pot, trying to hide the blush creeping across his face and the casual nickname he had been given. They boiled and chopped and stirred until they had made a pot of spaghetti, with garlic bread and a salad on the side. They set the table, and then called Allyson and Alexa to the table. They all filled their plates, but waited to start eating.

“Now,” Jared grinned. “Seeing as Evan is new, we should introduce him to our tradition, since that is the polite thing to do.” Allyson giggled. “We join hands, and say grace.” Jared had a troublemaker’s grin spread across his face and the twins were giggling uncontrollably now.

“GRACE!” They shouted together.

“NOW DIG IN!” Jared yelled, and they set to work eating. Evan smiled as he ate his pasta.

When they were done, they cleared the table, and Evan and Jared washed and put away the dishes while the twins finished their movie.

Alexa ran into the kitchen, Allyson right behind her. “Jared! Can we make cookies? Please please please!”

Jared smiled, “Only if Evan’s ok with it.” He said.

The girls turned to Evan, “Please please please!!” They begged.

“Well,” he paused, “If it’s ok with Jared then it’s ok with me too!”

“Yay!” They shouted, rushing to the pantry. They grabbed sugar, butter, flour, baking soda, salt, chocolate chips, and eggs.

“Woah woah girls, hold your horses.” Jared said with a grin, “Let me help you. Ev, can you preheat the oven to 375 please?”

“Sure!” Evan preheated the oven, then went over to help with the measurements. He stirred the batter while Jared helped the girls add the chocolate chips. Then they rolled the dough into little balls and stuck them on a pan, before putting them in the oven. Then Jared sent the girls off to play while him and Evan cleaned up.

“Hey Evan,” Jared said.

Evan turned around, and was struck in the face with a fistfull of flour. “Oh!” He exclaimed. “It is on!” he reached and got a handful of flour and put it in Jared’s hair. This resulted in Jared grabbing the spoon and doing his best to fend off Evan, who was now attacking him with more bursts of flour. Eventually, they ran out of steam, and fell to the ground laughing.

Jared looked around. “We made such a mess.” he grinned widely. They set to work cleaning up, (for real this time) then took the cookies out of the oven. When the cookies were cool, they took them into the living room and ate them while watching Mulan.

“Hey Evan,” Evan looked down to see Alexa on the floor in front of him.

“Yeah?”

“Can you braid my hair?” She asked.

“Sure! How do you want it?”

“French braid.” she replied.

“Ok, come here,” He patted his lap and smiled. Alexa clamored into his lap and turned to face to TV. Evan french braided her hair while humming I’ll Make a Man out of You under his breath. When he was done, Allyson asked if he could do her hair too, so he did.

Around ten o’clock, the girls got tired. Jared switched off the movie and carried them up to bed. After tucking them in and reading them a story, he drove Evan back to the mall. They said their goodbyes, and Evan went home.

When he got back to the apartment he shared with Jeremy and Michael, they questioned him as if he were a rebellious teenager who had stayed out until midnight.

That night, Evan lay awake. He had a plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey uh comments?? Those are v cool


	6. Flowers

That morning, Jared was already having a bad day. He had to open at the Comic Strip, which meant getting up earlier than normal. Then, Allyson and Alexa slept in late, and took forever getting ready. They were so late, that he didn’t have enough time to stop for coffee on the way to work like he always did. Dang it. He thought, I was gonna give that cute barista guy my number today.Then he remembered how much fun he had had last night with Evan, and how much the blonde haired boy had fit in at his house. Well, maybe missing the coffee isn’t such a bad thing after all. Then to top it all off, he got stuck in traffic.

When he finally got to the mall, he let Allyson and Alexa have 10 dollars for food and such, and turned them loose. Then he headed to work.

What he did not expect, was the flowers on the counter, addressed to him. A bouquet white, pink and deep red roses, and they smelled really nice. Jared smiled as he wondered who they could possibly be from? He immediately ruled out Evan, because whoever had done it must have left them with Julie, who was closing last night. He decided to leave them in the middle of the counter until his lunch break when he could ask Evan what they meant.

* * * * *

“Hey Evan!”

“Oh hi Jared!”

“I was just about to come see you, I have some flowers I wanted to ask you about.”

“O-ok what are they?” Evan asked. Jared held out the flowers. “Oh!” Evan said with a grin, “aww, that’s so sweet! Someone must really like you!”

“Really?”

“Yeah, so white roses can mean abstract thought, so that’s like saying they think about you a lot. Light pink roses mean admiration, so they obviously admire you. The dark red ones are the best, because they mean unconscious beauty.” Evan looked down at his feet.

“What does that mean?”

“You’re beautiful and you don’t know it.” He whispered, never taking his eyes off the floor.

Oh. “Oh. Oh! That’s- nicer than I expected I guess?” Jared grinned. “Come on Evan, it’s my lunch break, let’s go see Alana.” They walked over to The Breakfast Nook and stepped in to find Alana sitting atop the bookshelves, eating a sandwich and chips.

“Alana!” Evan exclaimed, “What are you doing?”

“Eating my lunch, what does it look like I’m doing?”

“It looks like you’re dropping food everywhere!” Jared exclaimed and raced forward. “Stop it!” He ducked and caught a piece of tomato from Alana’s sandwich in his mouth. Evan laughed, and went to stand beside Jared. The stayed in The Breakfast Nook for about half an hour. They goofed off, caught food, told crappy jokes and laughed at them anyway. Jared noticed how Evan seemed less on edge now that they all knew each other a little bit better. He smiled to himself and thought I could get used to this.

Then they heard the door open.

It was Zoe, and she was crying.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> cliffhanger mwa ha ha ha ha


	7. Chapter 7

Zoe ran across The tiled floor in the mall, hiding her face and trying to get to The Breakfast Nook. She stumbled in to find Jared, Evan and Alana laughing and smiling. Tears burned her eyes, “I-I can come back another time.” She said, and started out the door.

“No!” Alana exclaimed, climbing down from her perch.

“Zoe, what’s wrong what happened?” Jared asked.

“It-It’s-” Zoe took in a deep breath. “Connor.” Zoe broke down, full on sobbing now. She hugged herself and looked down at the floor.

Jared tensed, then rushed forward and pulled her into a hug. “Hey, it’s ok, it’s ok.” He gently pulled her across the room to one of the couches in the reading area. He sat down and pulled her into his lap, trying to calm her. Zoe was very grateful he was here, they had been friends for as long as either could remember, despite Zoe being a grade behind him. There had been many nights when Connor had been high, or her parents had been fighting, when Zoe would leave out her window and run to Jared’s house. He always calmed her down with hot chocolate, disney movies, and lots and lots of blankets.

Now, he rubbed her back, and asked Alana if she could spare some hot chocolate and cookies.

“You’re in luck,” Alana called over her shoulder, “I was just baking a batch.” Then she went to the door and turned the sign around so it said ‘closed.’ “Business can wait, Zoe is more important.”

Alana came back with the cookies, and Evan was behind her, carrying five mugs of hot chocolate on a tray. He passed out the drinks, then sat down in the chair beside Jared and Zoe. He smiled kindly at Zoe, and pulled his knees up to his chest. “Do you want to talk about it?” he asked in a gentle tone. “It’s ok if you don’t, no pressure at all.”

Zoe sipped her hot chocolate, thinking for a moment, before she nodded and sniffed, preparing to tell them the whole story. “I- I told you about Connor, right?” Evan nodded. “So, I went to, to talk to him, and try to… make up I guess, but he just yelled at me. He asked me why I cared  _ now _ , because I never cared  _ before _ ,” her voice was starting to crack, “and then he told me to go back to not talking to him, and it would be just like-” Zoe choked back a sob. “Just like old times.” It was too much. She turned and buried her head in Jared’s shoulder.

“Shhhh, it’s ok. As soon as I can, I’m gonna kick his butt.” Jared whispered to her, taking her hot chocolate and sitting it on the table. Alana moved to sit beside them and rub her back.

“I’m sorry, I’m just unloading all my problems on you. I’m such a burden.” Zoe said quietly.

“No, no.” Alana exclaimed, “You are not a burden, we all have problems, and we all need to cry sometimes. Would you like some cookies? They’re fresh out of the oven.”

Zoe nodded, and untangled herself. Alana handed her a cookie and she ate it slowly. After a while, Zoe had calmed down, and the atmosphere was less tense. Evan was curled up in his chair drinking his hot chocolate, Zoe and Jared were side by side on the couch eating cookies, and Alana sat cross legged on the coffee table that was in front of them, reading 

“Can I braid your hair?” Jared asked. Zoe laughed and nodded. He perched on the back of the couch, and started braiding. “Hey Alana, can you hand me those flowers?” Alana took the bunch of flowers Jared had gotten earlier and handed them over. He braided them into her hair, and when he was done, he sat back and admired his work.

Zoe grinned. “Thank you guys, I really needed this.”

“No problem,” Evan replied.

“Yeah, don’t sweat it.” Alana added.

“I’m use to taking care of you.” Jared joked, earning him a punch in the arm.

They were all smiling as the mall closed and they went their separate ways.


	8. Memories

Connor was unlocking the door to Inked Out one morning, when he heard someone call his name.

“Hey, Connor, can I talk to you for a minute?”

“What do you want.” Connor grumbled.

“It’s about Zoe, you really hurt her.”

“Screw her.”

“Listen, I have a step-brother, and we fight sometimes, but no matter what, we’re always family, and I love him.”

Connor was suddenly thrown back into memories.

_ Larry and Cynthia were fighting again. Seven year old Zoe had burst into Connor’s room crying, thinking that this was all her fault. _

_ “It’s not your fault.” Connor said, “Mommy and Daddy fight sometimes, it’ll all be over soon.” _

_ “They don’t love me, do they?” _

_ “Of course they love you,” Connor said, “They’ll always love you. And even if they don’t, we can run away together. I’ll always love you, we’re family.” Zoe sniffed and nodded. “You wanna paint nails?” Connor asked. _

_ “Yeah.” Zoe whispered. _

Connor snapped back to reality. There were tears in his eyes. “I-I have to go.” Connor raced off to find Zoe. He stepped into indigo streaks to find her tidying up. He wrapped her up in a hug, “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I was terrible in high school, I hurt you and I’m so so sorry.”

Zoe nodded, “Shhh, it’s ok.”

They stood there like that for a while, just enjoying each other’s embrace.

“I want it to be like old times again, like when we were little.”

“When we were seven?”

Connor nodded, and moved to sit in the salon chair nearest him. “Can you dye my hair?”

Zoe smiled “Sure, what color?”

“Red please.”

“Where?”

Connor grabbed a patch of hair right at the front. “Here.”

Zoe smiled and set to work, pulling out red dye and some bleach. She first applied the bleach, so it could sit. While they were waiting, Zoe marched off to find some snacks, and came back with two cans of sprite, a big bag of plain potato chips, and an box of fruit snacks. They munched on the snacks and shared stupid stories from when they were little.

“Hey Connor, do you remember that time after we watched A Christmas Story? And you said that if you stuck your tongue to a pole in winter it wouldn’t stick?”

They both laughed, “Yeah, I remember, cause then I went and stuck my my tongue to a frikin pole.” Connor grinned, which was truly a rare sight. When he did smile, it lit up the whole room. “And remember when you dyed your hair the first time? In sixth grade, and mom was so mad at you because your hair was short and you dyed it purple?”

“Ohmygosh I had totally forgotten about that!” Zoe exclaimed, giggling.

“Secretly, I was proud of you. You had never rebelled before. It was awesome.”

Zoe smiled. The timer on her phone went off, and she hopped up from her seat in the other salon chair.

“Now for the dye.” Zoe said.

After a while, they she had applied the dye, and they were back to waiting.

Connor laughed. “Hey Zoe, do you remember that one time when you were in second grade, and some fourth graders were bullying me and you totally kicked their butts?”

Zoe grinned, “Heck yeah I remember that! The looks on their faces were hilarious!”

“You were so tiny! They didn’t think you had it in you and then you just kicked that one guy in the nuts and hit the other with that dictionary…” They both laughed and smiled, glad to have each other back.

Eventually, the dye set in and Zoe had to rinse it out. Connor jokingly complained that ‘this is weird and I’m never going to a salon again,’ but Zoe just laughed and sprayed him in the face.

That day, Connor didn’t go to work and Zoe never opened up indigo streaks. For the first half of the day, they shared stories from their childhood and college days. Connor told Zoe how he was an art major, and Zoe explained about her days in the salon school. They laughed at each other’s stories about crazy parties and drunk roommates. Connor told an especially crazy one about a simple birthday party that got way out of hand and ended with Connor and a few other kids being banned from K-Mart, which was practically impossible. Zoe had one about this one time that this guy got really high and marched down to to college radio station where Zoe worked demanding they play only Madonna songs for the rest of the year.

Around 12:00, Zoe decided that chips and fruit snacks wasn’t a good lunch.

“Hey Connor, you wanna go eat lunch with Evan Jared and Alana at The Breakfast Nook?”

“Sure, why not!”


	9. Carry Me Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I LOVE FUN. OKAY

Walking into The Breakfast Nook with Connor in tow, was eventful to say the least. Jared immediately launched himself at him. Zoe screamed, startling Alana so badly that she toppled off the ladder she had been climbing and landed with a thud at Evan’s feet. Evan, who had been examining a bouquet of yellow and orange flowers, scrambled to help Alana up. Zoe yelled at Jared, and Evan raced forward, pulling him back off of Connor.

“Guys! It’s ok!” Zoe screeched, “It’s ok, he’s here with me.”

“Oh.” Jared mumbled, standing slightly behind Evan, trying to hide.

“Yeah, I kinda deserved that.” Connor said, pushing himself up off floor. “So, what do you guys even do in here?”

“Act like five year olds.” Evan replied immediently.

Jared let out a harsh laugh, “Hell yeah we do!” He said with a grin, then rushed forward into the cafe area. “Would you like some cookies, Angst Boy?”

“Angst boy?” Connor asked.

“Either you want the cookies or you don’t.” Jared said waving the cookie infront of Connor’s face.

Evan lurched forward, “I’ll take it!”

Jared moved the cookie out of Evan’s reach, “Not so fast darling. We have to be polite to Angst Boy here.”

Evan blushed madly, “D-did you call me darling?” he asked, reaching for the cookie.

“Sure did, darling.” Jared replied. “Now, Angst Boy, do you want the cookie or not.”

Connor rolled his eyes and took the cookie.

“Can I have a cookie now?” Evan asked.

“Ladies first,” Jared said “That means you Smarty Mc Smartypants, you too Jazzy Murphy.”

Zoe rolled her eyes and stepped forward to get cookies for her and Alana.

After they had grabbed cookies, Zoe saw Evan tug at Jared’s sleeve. “Yes, you may have a cookie now darling.”

Evan smiled, and grabbed a cookie for himself, and one for Jared. Zoe was pretty sure she saw Jared blush when Evan handed him the cookie.

_ Aww, they’re sooo cute! _ Zoe thought.  _ They should totally get together! _ Zoe smiled to herself, she was going to make it her mission to get them together. In the meantime, Jared was going on and on about something.

“-and they were just there! I walked in and they were just sitting there on the counter!”

“What are you ranting about this time?” Zoe asked.

“Someone was kind enough to give me flowers!” Jared exclaimed.

Zoe laughed, and noted Evan’s blush. “C’mon guys, let’s dance!” she said. She jumped up and grabbed her phone to turn on Pandora. Some over auto tuned pop song came on, and Connor frowned.

“Woah woah woah,” He said, taking Zoe’s phone from her. “I’m gonna treat you guys to real music.” He said. He tapped a few things, then something heavy metal came through the phone speakers.

Now it was Jared’s turn, “Oh heck no, I think I have a compromise.” He took the phone, did some tapping of his own, and sat the phone down. “There.” He said, as Dear Maria, Count Me In by All Time Low came on. Zoe smiled and walked over to Alana, taking her book and putting it on the table.

“Dance with me dearie,” She said, pulling Alana up from her spot on the couch. She stood up and her and Zoe danced across the floor, jumping and twisting and laughing. Zoe saw Connor standing a bit off to the side, and she dragged him over to join her.

Jared bounced over to them, “Come on Angst Boy, dance with us!”

Connor smiled and bounced lightly. “There you go!” Evan said with a grin.

Soon the song changed to We Are Young. “I love this song!” Zoe exclaimed, and grabbed Connor’s hands. Zoe saw Connor smile, and she knew that he knew all the words, and so did she. They sang and danced, and when it came time for the bridge, Zoe jumped on top of the table. “ Carry me home tonight Just carry me home tonight Carry me home tonight Just carry me home tonight,” she sang, and Connor provided the Na na na’s. “The world is on my side I have no reason to run So will someone come and carry me home tonight The angels never arrived But I can hear the choir So will someone come and carry me home. ”

“Tonight we are young, so we’ll set the world on fire, we can burn brighter than the sun.” Zoe looked around and saw Jared and Evan slow dancing in a fake and cheesy way, singing the chorus with her. “Tonight we are young, so we’ll set the world on fire, we can burn brighter than the sun.” Alana was singing too, she had climbed the ladder on the bookshelf and was hanging half off it, a smile on her face. Then Zoe locked eyes with Connor. They both sang the next words, and they both understood what each other meant by them.

“So if by the time the bar closes, and you feel like falling down, I‘ll carry you home tonight.”

_ I forgive you. _


	10. In Which Jared Breaks The Law (kinda)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> JARED AND ZOE ARE FRIENDS FIGHT ME

The flowers were amazing. First, it had been the roses. Then, a bouquet of yellow and orange tulips, and sunflowers. Yellow tulips meant you brighten my day, Orange tulips symbolized fascination, and sunflowers symbolized adoration. Then it had been a bouquet of Calla Lilies, which meant beauty. Today, it was Lily of the valley which meant sweetness, blue salvia which meant I think of you, yellow roses which meant I care, and red carnations for adoration.

 

Jared was very excited, because he had a plan. Today, he was closing the Comic Strip, and tomorrow he was opening. Who was to know if he stayed the night there? That was his plan, he was going to spend the night there, and figure this out.

 

It was a Sunday, so the mall closed at five. At the end if the day, Jared locked up from the inside, and headed towards the back door. Instead of going out and to his car like normal, he stayed inside, and sat down in Krysta's office. At 5:27, he knew it was safe to come out. He went out into the store and grabbed a stack of comic books to read. He burned through those pretty quickly, finishing them up right around 6:00. Normally, he would be eating supper around now, so he grabbed the bag he had packed and pulled out a jar of peanut butter, a spoon, and his phone. He sat his phone down on the counter of the little kitchen like area in the back room, and switched on some music. He listened to a few of songs by Panic! At The Disco, some by Fall Out Boy, and even a song or two by My Chemical Romance. (no one could ever know about his secret love for the band, he had to keep his mysterious alternative vibe going.) By then, he had eaten half the jar of peanut butter, was tired of music, and bored out of his mind. He messed around on Tumblr for a while, before opening Netflix and deciding to watch Supernatural. Zoe had bugged him to watch it for ages, and he finally gave in one day over at her house. Not exactly gave in, more was forced by Zoe, but oh well. Either way, he ended up really liking the show. He was now just three episodes away from the end of the first season. At exactly 9:17, he finished the season, and promptly texted Zoe.

 

_ Jared - ZOE MURPHY I HATE YOU SO MUCH _

_ Zoe - I'm hurt, I thought you loved me! _

_ Jared - YOU GOT ME HOOKED ON THIS STUPID SHOW _

_ Zoe - oh, you mean Supernatural, I suppose you got to the end of season one? _

_ Jared - that ending hnnnfff _

_ Zoe - Don't worry, Dean survives. _

_ Jared - no dip Sherlock _

_ Zoe - don't you sass me young man _

_ Jared - yeah yeah whatever I'm starting season 2 now byeeee _

_ Zoe - have fun dying! _

 

Jared rolled his eyes and returned to watching the show. Around midnight, he finished an episode, rubbed his eyes and yawned. He decided that coffee was a good idea, and started making some in the coffee pot in the kitchen area. After two cups of coffee, (although, it was mostly cream and sugar) he was ready to go all night.

The Comic Strip wasn't just a comic book store, it was a store full of geekery of all kinds. The middle section of the store had bins with separated out spaces for the comics. Those formed a square missing it's corners, and some comfy chairs were set up in the middle for reading. The front left corner was dedicated to all things Harry Potter, and rest of the left side was Vinyl albums. They had a record player in the back left corner, and anyone could play any record they wanted, as long as the person before them was done. (there was a sign in sign out sheet, and a three song limit in hopes of being fair.) The front right corner was dedicated entirely to Doctor  Who, and beside that was the section dedicated to all the MARVEL movies. The back right corner was the spot for anime and video games. Finally, the check out station had magazines on the front, and bowls full of pins.

Jared picked up an old magazine, an Entertainment Weekly collectors edition guide to StarWars, from when The Force Awakens had first come out. There's another reason why The Comic Strip was different, magazines had a sell by date, but Krysta insisted they keep all the magazines that weren't sold and rotate them in and out. The only time you could find a current version of a magazine, was if it was a special edition of some sort, like the one he was holding, or one of the many from then Fantastic Beasts was released.

He read the magazine cover to cover in 20 minutes, and decided he wanted to buy it, after all, it was a collectors edition and it did have some pretty cool posters. He skimmed through a few more magazines, before he checked the time again.

1:03

That's when he heard it.

A soft clicking

Coming from the door.

Jared barely had enough time to react, before there was one final click and the door swung open.

He had so many thoughts racing through his head, so many questions.

There was a shout of terror.

He saw blue eyes, wide with shock and fear. He saw hans trembling and gripping a bouquet of flowers.

“Evan?”


	11. cute

The flowers hit the ground. The boy looked down, muttered something, turned on his heel, and raced out.

Jared mentally kicked himself, "Wait!" He shouted. Evan stopped dead in his tracks. "Come back, I want to talk to you," Jared called.

Slowly, Evan turned and walked back towards The Comic Strip. "I-I-I'm s-sorry." he stuttered out.

"For what?" Jared asked.

"F-for t-the flowers."

"Why are you sorry?" Jared asked, "I love them!"

Evan turned a shade of red to rival his best red roses, "I-I-I d-dont think that you- that y-you understand."

Jared couldn't help but grin, Evan was just too adorable. "Oh Evan, I do understand," he said.

Evan made a little noise of surprise that was just too damn cute, and Jared pulled him into a hug.

"So, y-you don't h-hate me?"

"Evan, darling, I could never hate you, you're too adorable, I'd give in after an hour of so." Evan smiled a genuine smile. "Come on, sit with me." Jared sat down on the ground, and patted the spot beside him. Evan sat down beside him, instantly curling into his side as if he had been doing it for years. As if he belonged there, which he did. They sat there for a while, in comfortable silence, listening to each other breathe, and just being there together.

"Jared?"

"Yeah Ev?"

"A-are you s-sure you don't hate me?"

Evan sniffed, and it was then that Jared realized he was crying. He pulled Evan closer and soothed him.

"Shh shh it's ok, I promise I don't hate you, ok?"

Evan nodded, "It's just, my dad told me he didn't hate me, and then he left me and my mom for some cocktail waitress."

Jared pulled Evan impossibly closer, carding his fingers through Evan's soft hair and rocking him slightly. "Well, your father was a douche bag." He whispered.

This earned a laugh from Evan, and Jared smiled. He loved Evan's laugh. This laugh wasn't his normal, nervous laugh. No, this was a real laugh, pure and simple that filled the whole space with a nice comforting warmth. Jared grinned and, without thinking, pressed a kiss to Evan's hair. Evan smiled curling farther into Jared's chest. Jared laughed, "You're just too cute, you know that?"

Evan blushed yet again, and looked up at Jared. "Y-you're not so bad yourself," He replied, smiling softly.

"Aww," Jared said is a fake girly voice, "Thanks babe!"

Evan laughed again, and Jared grinned. Yeah, he could definitely get used to this. Evan, curled up in his arms, talking and laughing with him, and just being here with him.

"I'm glad you're warm, because I came without a coat and I am freezing." Jared smiled, because it was only October, and the nights weren't even that cold yet.

Jared shifted a little, and stood up, pulling Evan up with him. He was quick to remove his own jacket, and give it to Evan. "Here, you can wear mine." he said, moving to drape it over Evan's shoulders.

Evan blushed a slight pink, and pit his arms into the blue jacket. It was a hand-me-down from Jared's cousin, and was slightly big on his not exactly large frame. Jared laughed a little, he was twenty five, and still getting hand  me downs from his cousins. It fit a little better on Evan than it did on him, but was still slightly big on the boy. Evan was smiling brightly, and Jared's gaze drifted down to his lips.

"Hey Evan, I have a question."

"Yeah?"

"Can I kiss you?"

Evan's eyes went wide, "S-sure." he replied.

Jared moved forward, placing one hand on Evan's face, and the other on his back. Then he moved in.

The kiss was a bit ungraceful at first, noses bumping and glasses knocking into Evan's face, but that was quickly fixed. Then, the kiss was soft and sweet. Slightly chapped lips pressing against soft ones, fingers twisted through hair, and arms holding each other firmly in place.

When they finally pulled apart for air, Evan stumbled back a bit. "I-I have to go." He announced.

Jared felt his heart sink rapidly. "Was it really that bad?" He asked a bit sadly.

"No! No, not at all," Evan exclaimed, leaning over and pecking Jared's lips. "It's just a bit... Overwhelming? It's nit anything bad, I just need a minute, and it's so late."

Jared smiled. "Go home and get some sleep, I'll see you tomorrow." Jared said,  pressing a kiss to Evans cheek and hugging him tightly. "How 'bout I walk you to your car," he suggested.

"I'd really like that."

They smiled and Evan reached down, lacing their fingers together. He walked Evan to his car, and gave him one last kiss, before parting ways.

Evan might have been ready to go home, but Jared sure wasn't, so he decided to go to Zoe's house. The entire drive, Jared couldn't stop smiling.

Finally, he arrived and knocked on Zoe's door.

A moment later, Zoe came to the door in her pajamas and armed with a baseball bat. "Oh, it's just you," she said, and let him in. "You had better have a good reason to scare me senseless at three in the morning."

Jared smiled. "I kissed Evan Hansen."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THESE DORKS FIGURED THEIR SHIT OUT


	12. Ice Cream Date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THEY ARE FRIENDS PART TWO

She pulled him into the kitchen. "Wait let me got the ice cream."

"The usual?"

"Chocolate Waffle Cone Swirl, it's all I have."

"Good." Jared replied, grabbing two spoons from a drawer.

They sat down on the couch and put the ice cream between them. "Spill." Zoe said, taking a spoon and digging into the ice cream.

"Ok, so you know those flowers I've been getting?"

"Yeah yeah they were from Evan. Tell me something I don't already know."

Jared rolled his eyes and continued, "Well, I was not aware of this, so I planned an all nighter at The Comic Strip to see who it was." Zoe nodded and shoved more ice cream into her mouth. "So around one this morning, I hear this clicking coming from the frikin door-"

"He picked the lock?" Zoe asked.

"I guess so, but that's not what matters." Jared replied "so he walks in with these flowers, and he sees me and his eyes go all wide, and the he drops them."

"Just like that?"

"Zoe, there's more. Patience is a virtue." he said, waving his spoon at her.

Zoe whacked him with her own spoon, "Just get to the good part already!!" she exclaimed.

"Ok ok I'm going." he paused to eat some I've cream, before going on. "So anyway, he dropped the flowers and ran out."

"UUUUGGGGGHHHHHHH" Zoe threw her head back "Stupid stupid boy." she said, "you two are hopelessly in love!"

Jared smiled, shoveling more ice cream into his mouth. "mmm this stuff is good, caramel and chocolate and waffle cone and vani-"

"STOP IT JARED!" Zoe screeched and smacked his arm, "please just get to the good part," she pleaded.

"Ok, so I called him back in, and we talked and then we just sat down. And he was being all adorable and curling up and then he said something about being cold, so I stood up and gave him my jacket-"

"Awww that's adorable!"

"It was, and he was just standing there being cute and blushing so I asked him, 'can I kiss you?' and-"

"You just ASKED him!?!"

Jared rolled his eyes. "Yeah, and he was like 'sure.' And so I kissed him."

Zoe let out an ear piercing squeal, "How was it, was it good? Did you like it? Did he like it? What was it like, was it filled with passion?" she asked with a giggle.

"Ok um..." he paused to eat some ice cream while he thought, "yes it was good. I liked it, and he liked it too. Um it was soft, not passionate?"

"Awwwwwww that's so cute!! You guys are absolutely ADORABLE!"

"Thanks I guess?"

Zoe smiled, "You have been pining after him for so long. I haven't seen you this bad since you met that guy at that bar and he gave you a ride home... You spent weeks trying to track him down."

"Well, he was pretty hot..." Jared looked up as if remembering, "Black hair and pretty green eyes, tall and handsome. Nice arms."

Zoe smacked him for the third time that night. "YOU HAVE A BOYFRIEND!" She screeched, probably loud enough to wake her neighbors.

"Sheesh Zoe, calm down ok?" he said rolling his eyes. "Just because I'm committed doesn't mean I can't dream!"

She smacked him again. "Yes." smack "It." smack "Does." smack smack smack

"AAAHHHH!" Jared picked up a pillow to protect himself with. "An attack oh no!"

Zoe smacked him one final time, and with that they fell into a pillowey pile of giggles.


End file.
